On-board self-healing network for delivery of vehicle passenger-consumable content

ABSTRACT

A self-healing network on-board a vehicle includes multiple wireless devices that are directly and communicatively interconnected via communications backbone(s). One of devices is collectively determined by the other devices to be a lead device of the network, and therefore establishes a wireless link (e.g., an only wireless link) communicatively connecting any of the self-healing network devices to other devices/servers on-board the vehicle and external to the network. Passenger-consumable content may be delivered between any device of the self-healing network and the other on-board, external devices via the lead wireless device, its established wireless link, and the communications backbone(s). Any wireless device of the self-healing network may serve as a hot spare for the lead wireless device, so that the self-healing network may automatically reconfigure to mitigate and recover from faults, e.g., by automatically forming multiple, mutually exclusive sub-self-healing networks, each of which has its own cooperatively selected lead wireless device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation and claims the benefit of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/053,374 filed Aug. 2, 2018 and entitled“ON-BOARD SELF-HEALING NETWORK FOR DELIVERY OF VEHICLEPASSENGER-CONSUMABLE CONTENT,” the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The instant disclosure generally relates to a self-healing network ofpassenger-facing wireless devices disposed on-board a vehicle fordelivering content for consumption by passengers who are on-board thevehicle.

BACKGROUND

Content, such as digital content, that is available and able to bepresented to and consumed by passengers on-board the vehicle (e.g.,while the vehicle is in transit or en route between an originationlocation and a destination location) may include safety procedures,instructions, and other safety information; entertainment offerings suchas movies, television shows, etc.; real-time maps and other informationdescribing the vehicle's progression along the travel route and/or otherinformation related to the travel route (e.g., estimated time ofarrival, arrival gate, baggage carousel, weather, etc.); shopping,retail, and/or other marketing portals/information; and the like. Suchcontent may be delivered for presentation to and consumption bypassengers at user interfaces of on-board passenger-facing electronicdevices, some of which may be installed on the vehicle, e.g., inseatbacks, in or on walls or ceilings of the vehicle cabin, etc.Additionally or alternatively, passenger-consumable content may bedelivered for presentation to and consumption by passengers at userinterfaces of personal, portable electronic devices (“PEDs”) which usershave brought onto the vehicle, e.g., laptop computers, tablets, smartphones, smart devices, etc. Some of the passenger-consumable content,such as safety procedures and information, may be broadcasted toon-board passenger-facing devices, and some of the passenger-consumablecontent may be individually requested by passengers at respectivepassenger-facing devices for individual presentation and consumption(e.g., movies, television shows, and/or other entertainment programming,shopping portals, etc.).

Passenger-consumable content may be obtained by on-boardpassenger-facing devices via one or more on-board servers to which theon-board passenger-facing devices are communicatively connected via oneor more on-board communications networks. The on-board servers may storeat least some of the available passenger-consumable content. Forexample, some of the passenger-consumable content may be loaded onto andstored at the on-board servers while the vehicle is parked or otherwiseis in-between travel routes. In some scenarios, some of thepassenger-consumable content may be loaded onto and stored at theon-board servers while the vehicle is in transit or otherwise en route,e.g., via satellites and/or other type of air-to-ground communicationlinks established between the in-transit vehicle and ground stations. Insome scenarios, some of the passenger-consumable content (e.g.,real-time sporting events, news flashes, and the like) may be streamedor otherwise delivered to the on-board servers for in-time delivery tovarious on-board passenger-facing devices while the vehicle is intransit, e.g., via satellites and/or other type of air-to-groundcommunication links established between the vehicle and ground stations.

On-board the vehicle, the one or more servers may deliverpassenger-consumable content to one or more passenger-facing devices viaone or more on-board communications networks, e.g., via streaming,download, establishing sessions, and/or by using any other suitablecommunications protocol and/or delivery mechanism. Mitigation of faultsand/or degraded performance of the on-board-communications networkand/or nodes thereof which may occur during vehicle transit is importantnot only to enhance and preserve the on-board experience andsatisfaction of passengers, but also is critically important inemergency situations during which safety instructions and/or informationmust be timely and accurately delivered to passengers.

Known techniques for mitigating faults and/or degraded performancewithin on-board communications networks and nodes typically rely on theon-board servers, head-end devices, and human users to manage themitigation and recovery from the faults. For example, U.S. Pat. No.7,028,304 utilizes servers and head-end equipment to route content toinstalled seat devices, and when faults occur, the system notifies usersby illuminating an LED, logging a fault, etc. In another example, U.S.Pub. No. 20180248831 provides “seatboxes” that switch between andotherwise manage the usage of redundant communication paths betweeninstalled passenger-facing devices, such as when a fault is detected onone of the paths. However, in these architectures, faults that occur atsingle points of failure (e.g., the head-end equipment, the seatboxes,etc.) and/or faults that occur across all available redundantcommunication paths are not able to be addressed and recovered fromwithout human intervention. As such, at least some passengers whosedevices are affected by such types of faults may not be able to timelyreceive critical information during their journey, if at all.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Embodiments of a self-healing network for delivering content forconsumption by passengers via passenger-facing devices on-board avehicle are disclosed. The self-healing network may include a pluralityof wireless devices that are disposed on-board the vehicle and that arecommunicatively interconnected, e.g., via one or more communicationsbackbones or networks. Each wireless device included in the plurality ofwireless devices may be passenger-facing, and may include a respectiveuser interface, a respective processor, a respective memory, andrespective computer-executable instructions stored on the respectivememory. The computer-executable instructions, when executed by therespective processor, may cause each wireless device to cooperate withthe other wireless devices of the self-healing network to determine thata particular wireless device of the plurality of wireless devices is tofunction as a lead wireless device of the self-healing network, e.g.,via an election or other suitable cooperative selection process. Whenthe each wireless device is determined by the plurality of wirelessdevices to function as the lead wireless device of the self-healingnetwork, the computer-executable instructions may cause the eachwireless device to establish, via a wireless transceiver included in theeach wireless device, a wireless link to thereby communicatively connectany wireless device of the plurality of wireless devices of theself-healing network with one or more servers. The one or more serversmay disposed on-board the vehicle and may store passenger-consumablecontent thereon. Additionally or alternatively, the one or more serversmay dynamically receive (and optionally store) passenger-consumablecontent while the vehicle is in transit, e.g., via a satellite networkand/or other air-to-ground communications network. Each wireless device,while functioning as the lead wireless device of the self-healingnetwork, may serve as a gateway (i) between the plurality of wirelessdevices of the self-healing network and the one or more servers, and(ii) via which respective at least portions of the passenger-consumablecontent are delivered to respective wireless devices of the self-healingnetwork.

Embodiments of a method for self-healing a network that is on-board avehicle and that is for delivering content for consumption by passengerson-board the vehicle are disclosed. The first self-healing network mayinclude a particular wireless device and one or more other wirelessdevices that are communicatively interconnected. One of the one or moreother wireless devices may be a first lead wireless device of the firstself-healing network that supports a first wireless link communicativelyconnecting the plurality of wireless devices included in the firstself-healing network with one or more on-board servers. The method mayinclude detecting that the particular wireless device is or has becomecommunicatively disconnected from the first lead wireless device of thefirst self-healing network. In an embodiment, the particular wirelessdevice may detect that it has become communicatively disconnected fromthe first lead wireless device.

The method may further include, based on the detection, cooperating,between the particular wireless device and other wireless devices, toform a second self-healing network. The other wireless devices withwhich the particular wireless device cooperates may also have beenincluded in the first self-healing network and may also becommunicatively disconnected from the first lead wireless device, whileremaining communicatively connected to the particular wireless device.The cooperation amongst the particular wireless device and the otherwireless devices may include collectively determining that a particularwireless device of the second self-healing network is to function as asecond lead wireless device of the second self-healing network, and assuch is to establish a second wireless link that communicativelyconnects the set of wireless devices that form the second self-healingnetwork to the one or more on-board servers. For example, the particularwireless device and the other wireless devices may elect or perform someother suitable cooperative selection process to determine which deviceamongst them is to serve as the second lead wireless device of thesecond self-healing network.

The method may further receiving or obtaining passenger-consumablecontent at the particular wireless device, where thepassenger-consumable content is delivered from the on-board server tothe particular wireless device via the second wireless link and thesecond lead wireless device. Additionally, the method may includepresenting the received passenger-consumable content at a user interfaceof the particular wireless device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an example self-healing networkthat is configured to deliver content for consumption by passengerson-board a vehicle;

FIGS. 2A-2D illustrate various example faults that may occur in theon-board self-healing network of FIG. 1, and the example faultmitigation and recovery techniques utilized by the nodes of theself-healing network;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless deviceconfigured to operate as a node of the on-board self-healing network ofFIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method for self-healing a network thatdelivers content for passenger consumption on-board a vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Although the following text sets forth a detailed description ofnumerous different embodiments, it should be understood that the legalscope of the description is defined by the words of the claims set forthat the end of this patent and equivalents. The detailed description isto be construed as exemplary only and does not describe every possibleembodiment since describing every possible embodiment would beimpractical. Numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented,using either current technology or technology developed after the filingdate of this patent, which would still fall within the scope of theclaims.

It should also be understood that, unless a term is expressly defined inthis patent using the sentence “As used herein, the term ‘______’ ishereby defined to mean . . . ” or a similar sentence, there is no intentto limit the meaning of that term, either expressly or by implication,beyond its plain or ordinary meaning, and such term should not beinterpreted to be limited in scope based on any statement made in anysection of this patent (other than the language of the claims). To theextent that any term recited in the claims at the end of this patent isreferred to in this patent in a manner consistent with a single meaning,that is done for sake of clarity only so as to not confuse the reader,and it is not intended that such claim term be limited, by implicationor otherwise, to that single meaning. Finally, unless a claim element isdefined by reciting the word “means” and a function without the recitalof any structure, it is not intended that the scope of any claim elementbe interpreted based on the application of 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixthparagraph.

Exemplary On-Board Self-Healing Network

FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting an example self-healing network 100that is located on-board a vehicle 102 and that delivers content orinformation (e.g., digital content or information) for consumption bypassengers who are on-board the vehicle 102. In an embodiment, theself-healing network 100 may deliver content or information (e.g., inthe form of electronic data) that is presented on respective userinterfaces of one or more of a plurality of wireless devices WD_(x,y)disposed within a cabin of the vehicle 102 and of which the self-healingnetwork 100 is comprised. That is, as depicted in the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 1, the plurality of wireless devicesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) are nodes of the self-healing network 100, where eachwireless device WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) is configured to receive and present,on its respective user interface, respective content for passengerconsumption. For ease of reading, such content, information, or datathat is available for consumption by on-board passengers is generallyreferred to herein as “passenger-consumable content,” and least some ofthe available passenger-consumable content may be stored (e.g., duringthe duration of vehicle transit) on one or more servers 105 that aredisposed on-board the vehicle 102. Examples of availablepassenger-consumable content may include, for example, safetyinformation, food and beverage service information, safety information,weather information, flight or vehicle route information, movies,television shows, and other types of on-board entertainment, retail orshopping information, and the like. Additionally, although the vehicle102 is illustrated in FIG. 1 as being an aircraft, this illustration isnon-limiting, as the self-healing network 100 may be implemented in anytype of vehicle that transports people, such as airplanes, trucks,automobiles, busses, trains, boats, ships, barges, subway cars, otherair-borne, water-borne, or land-borne vehicles, and vehicles that aresuitable for space travel.

As shown in FIG. 1, one of the wireless devices WD_(1,1) of theself-healing network 100 serves as the lead wireless device of theself-healing network 100, and thus is so denoted by the prefix L₁. Thelead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) may provide the only or solecommunicative connection 108 between the self-healing network 100 andthe one or more servers 105. That is, the lead wireless deviceL₁-WD_(1,1) may be the only node or wireless device of the plurality ofWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) included in a self-healing network 100 that has adirect communicative connection (either wired or wireless) with anotherdevice that is not included in the self-healing network 100, and viawhich the communicative connection between any of the wireless devicesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) of the self-healing network 100 and the one or moreservers 105 is implemented. For example, the lead wireless deviceL₁-WD_(1,1) may establish and support a wireless link 108 to a wirelessaccess point AP1 disposed on the vehicle 102, which in turn may beconnected in a wired manner to the one or more on-board servers 105,e.g., via a wired link or network 110. In an example implementation, thewireless link 108 may be a Wi-Fi or IEEE 802.11ac compliant link,although other suitable wireless technologies may be suitable and/orutilized for the link 108. In an example implementation, the wired linkor network 110 may be an Ethernet network, although other suitable wiredtechnologies may be suitable and/or utilized for the link/network 110.

Within the self-healing network 100, the nodes or wireless devicesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) may be directly and communicatively interconnected viaone or more communication backbones 112 a, 112 b. Each backbone 112 a,112 b is different, separate, and distinct from the wireless link 108utilized by the lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) to communicativelyconnect with the one or more servers 105, and each backbone 112 a, 112b, directly interfaces with only with the wireless devicesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) of the self-healing network 100. That is, only thewireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) (and not other on-board devices) arenodes of the self-healing network 100. In an embodiment, each of thenodes or wireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) includes a respective wiredinterface via which the node or wireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n)directly and communicatively connects to one of the communicationsbackbones 112 a, which in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, isimplemented using wired communications technology. For example, thewired interfaces of the nodes or wireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) andthe communication backbone 112 a may be implemented utilizing Ethernettechnology (e.g., IEEE 802.3 compliant over copper or fiber optic),AC/DC power lines, USB (Universal Serial Bus), and/or any other suitablewired communications technology. In some arrangements, each of the nodesor wireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) includes a respective wirelessinterface via which the node or wireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n)directly and communicatively connects to another one of thecommunication backbones 112 b which utilizes wireless communicationstechnology. For example, the wireless interfaces of the nodes orwireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) and the communication backbone 112 bmay be implemented utilizing a Bluetooth, an infrared, a short-range, ora Wi-Fi or 802.11 wireless connection of a different channel and/orfrequency than that which is utilized for the wireless link 108, and/orany other suitable wireless communications technology. The self-healingnetwork 100 may include multiple wired communications backbones, and/ormultiple wireless communications backbones 112 b, if desired. In apreferred embodiment, the self-healing network 100 includes a wiredcommunications backbone 112 a and one other communications backbonewhich may be implemented utilizing wired or wireless technology.Typically, but not necessarily, one of the backbones 112 a, 112 b isdesignated or utilized by the nodes of the self-healing network 100 as aprimary communications backbone, and the other one of the backbones 112a, 112 b is designated or utilized as secondary, back-up, or redundantbackbone. In an embodiment, a wired communications backbone 112 a may beutilized as a primary communications backbone between nodes of thenetwork 100.

Exemplary Distributed Storage and Delivery of Passenger-ConsumableContent

At least some of the passenger-consumable content may be received ontothe vehicle 102 and stored, as denoted by reference 11,) on board thevehicle 102 at the one or more servers 105. For example,passenger-consumable content 115 may be loaded from one or moreoff-board devices or systems onto the one or more servers 105, e.g.,while the vehicle 102 is docked or parked at a port, and/or while thevehicle 102 is in transit. The passenger-consumable content 115 that isstored on the one or more servers 105 may include content that is to bebroadcasted to multiple passenger-facing devices, such as safetyinformation, emergency alerts, etc. Additionally or alternatively, thepassenger-consumable content 115 that is stored on the one or moreservers 105 may include on-demand or other content that is able to beindividually requested by a passenger via one of the wireless devicesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n), such as movies, television shows, food and drinkmenus, retail catalogs and information, etc. In some implementations, atleast some of the loaded, server-stored passenger-consumable content 115may be transferred, copied, streamed, and/or otherwise delivered to oneor more devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) of the self-healing network 100 viathe wireless link 108, the lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1), and one ormore of the communications backbones 112 a, 112 b of the self-healingnetwork 100, e.g., upon passenger request via one of the wirelessdevices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n), upon request by the lead wireless deviceL₁-WD_(1,1), and/or upon initiation of the delivery ofpassenger-consumable content 115 by the one or more servers 105.

In an embodiment, at least a portion of the initially loadedpassenger-consumable content 115 may be transferred from the one or moreservers 105 and/or from other devices un-for the vehicle 102 to one ormore devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) so that the passenger-consumable content115 is distributively stored on-board the vehicle 102, e.g., across theone or more servers 105 (as denoted by reference 115) and at one or morewireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) (as denoted by references 118). Forexample, the portion(s) of the initially loaded passenger-consumablecontent 115 that are to be distributively stored on board the vehicle102 may be predetermined, and/or may be selected. In this embodiment,device-stored passenger-consumable content 118 may be directly accessedby wireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) of the self-healing network 100without having to utilize the external (that is, “external” with respectto the self-healing network 100) wireless link 108. Other devices thatare on-board the vehicle 102 (e.g., other wireless devices included inother self-healing networks, or other computing devices) may request toobtain the device-stored passenger-consumable content 118 stored withinthe self-healing network 100 via the one or more servers 105 and/or viathe lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1). For example, the one or moreservers 105 and/or the lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) may store arespective mapping or indication of which portions of the initiallyloaded passenger-consumable content 115 have been transferred to bepersistently stored on-board the vehicle 102 at which particularnon-server devices and/or at which particular self-healing networks. Assuch, in this embodiment, the one or more servers 105 and/or the leadwireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) may serve as a receiving and distributionnode for at least a portion of the initially loaded passenger-consumablecontent 115. Advantageously, this embodiment may reduce the amount ofstorage that is utilized by the one or more servers 105, as well asreducing the bandwidth of external wireless link 108 that is utilized bythe plurality of wireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) to obtainpassenger-consumable content.

In an embodiment, at least a portion of the initially loadedpassenger-consumable content 115 may be copied from the one or moreservers 105 (and/or from other devices on-board the vehicle 102) to oneor more devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) of the self-healing network 100, e.g.,so that multiple copies of the selected passenger-consumable content 118may be locally stored on-board the vehicle 102 at multiple locations.For example, the portion(s) of the initially loaded passenger-consumablecontent 115 that are to be copied to the respective memories of one ormore of the devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) (and/or of other devices on boardthe vehicle 102) may be predetermined, and/or may be selected.Advantageously, this embodiment provides redundancy of content 118 tothereby mitigate situations in which a node becomes unavailable, acommunication link becomes unavailable, and/or a particular copy of thepassenger-consumable content 115, 118 becomes corrupted. Anotheradvantage of this embodiment is the direct and/or quicker local accessto passenger-consumable content 118 by other devices of the self-healingnetwork 100, e.g., via the one or more communications backbones 112 a,112 b. Further, this configuration may be particularly useful fordecreasing the utilized bandwidth and/or increasing the capacity of thewireless link 108, and may be particularly suitable for content that maybe presented at a large number of on-board devices, such as vehiclesafety information, on-board entertainment catalogs, popular movies,etc. In an implementation, the one or more servers 105 and/or the leadwireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) may store a mapping an indication of whichportions of the initially loaded passenger consumable content 115 havebeen copied to and persistently stored at which particular devicesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) of the self-healing network 100, e.g., so that otherdevices may request and/or access the copies.

In an embodiment, at least a portion of the initially loadedpassenger-consumable content 115 may be transferred and/or copied to thelead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) for local, persistent storage thereon(reference 118 at L₁-WD_(1,1)), e.g., from the one or more servers 105and/or from other devices on-board the vehicle 102 via the wireless link108 to the lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1). In this embodiment, thelead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) may operate as a local server of theself-healing network 100 storing at least some passenger-consumablecontent 118 that is directly and locally accessible, via one or of thecommunications backbones 112 a, 112 b, to the wireless devicesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) of the network 100, and/or to other devices on-boardthe vehicle 102.

In some embodiments, at least some of the passenger-consumable contentmay be additionally or alternatively loaded onto the vehicle 102 andinitially stored locally 118 in the respective memories of one or morewireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,1) of the self-healing network 100 (ascontrasted with being loaded and initially stored at the one or moreservers 105, as discussed above). For example, passenger-consumablecontent 118 may be loaded onto a memory of one of the wireless devicesWD_(1,1), . . . , WD_(1,n) while the device WD_(1,1), . . . , WD_(1,n)is not yet disposed on-board the vehicle 102. Upon the device WD_(1,1),. . . , WD_(1,n) being disposed on-board the vehicle (e.g., upon thedevice's installation), and upon respective communications connectionsbeing established between the on-board wireless device WD_(1,1), . . . ,WD_(1,n) and the one or more communications backbones 112 a, 112 b, thepassenger-consumable content 118 stored on the device WD_(1,1), . . . ,WD_(1,n) may be made available to other nodes or devices of theself-healing network 100. For example, the device WD_(1,1), . . . ,WD_(1,n) that initially locally stores passenger-consumable content 118on-board the vehicle 102 may broadcast, to one or more other nodes ofthe network 100, its stored content 118 (or an indication of its storedcontent) to one or more other nodes of the network 100. Additionally oralternatively, the device WD_(1,1), . . . , WD_(1,n) that initiallylocally stores passenger-consumable content 118 on-board the vehicle 102may provide at least a portion of its stored content 118 when requestedto do so by another node or device of the network 100. Stilladditionally or alternatively, in some situations the lead wirelessdevice L₁-WD_(1,1) of the self-healing network 100 may detect that a newwireless device has joined the network 100 (or, in some situations, thata previous wireless device is no longer included in the network and anew wireless device has joined in the previous wireless device's place,such as when a wireless device installed in a seatback is replaced), andthe lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) may dialogue with the newly joinedwireless device to obtain any additional passenger-consumable contentstored at the newly joined wireless device, and/or indications thereof.

In some embodiments, upon initialization of the device WD_(1,1), . . . ,WD_(1,n) at which at least some passenger-consumable content 118 isinitially stored, at least some of the initially-stored content 118 ofthe device WD_(1,1), . . . , WD_(1,n) may be provided to the leadwireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) of the self-healing network 100 (e.g., viaone or more of the communications backbones 112 a, 112 b) for localpersistent storage on a memory of the lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1).As such, other devices WD_(1,2), . . . , WD_(1,n) of the self-healingnetwork 100 may locally obtain the passenger-consumable content 118 fromthe lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) upon passenger request, uponinstruction by the lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1), or at some othertime without having to utilize any links that are external to theself-healing network 100, such as the wireless link 108 and/or thenetwork 110.

Similarly, in some embodiments, the lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) maydistribute (e.g., may transfer and/or copy) passenger-consumable content118 that was initially loaded onto and locally stored at one or more ofthe wireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) via the wireless link 108 forlocalized, persistent storage at one or more other lead wireless devices(e.g., L₂-WD_(2,1) and L₃-WD_(3,5) illustrated in FIG. 1), for example,so that the content 118 may be made locally available to otherself-healing networks 122, 123 on-board the aircraft 102.

In some embodiments, upon initialization of the device WD_(1,1), . . . ,WD_(1,n) at which at least some passenger-consumable content 118 isinitially stored, at least some of the content 118 that is initiallyloaded onto and stored at the device WD_(1,1), . . . , WD_(1,n) may beprovided to the one or more servers 105 (e.g., via one or more of thecommunications backbones 112 a, 112 b and the wireless link 108) forpersistent storage at the one or more servers 105. That is,passenger-consumable content 118 that is initially received onto thevehicle 102 via one of the wireless devices WD_(1,1), . . . , WD_(1,n)(and/or respective indications thereof) may be forwarded or otherwiseprovided to the one or more vehicle servers 105 so that thepassenger-consumable content 118 is made available to other on-boarddevices.

Additionally or alternatively, the lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) mayprovide, to the one or more servers 105 and/or to one or more other leadwireless devices L₂-WD_(2,1) and L₃-WD₅, an indication of thepassenger-consumable content 118 that has been newly loaded into itsnetwork 100 so that the one or more servers 105 and/or the one or moreother lead wireless devices L₂-WD_(2,1) and L₃-WD₅ may update theirrespective routing records or tables to reflect the presence of thepassenger-consumable content that is available and persistently storedin various device(s) of the self-healing network 100.

In some implementations, and as shown in the embodiment depicted in FIG.1, the vehicle 102 may include one or more other on-board self-healingnetworks 122, 123, each having an architecture that is generally similarto the architecture of the self-healing network 100. Each self-healingnetwork 100, 122, 123 may include different numbers of wireless devicesor nodes, and one of the wireless devices of each self-healing network100, 122, 123 may serve as the lead wireless device of its respectiveself-healing network 100, 122, 123. For example, as illustrated in FIG.1, self-healing network 122 includes lead wireless device L₂-WD_(2,1)and self-healing network 123 includes lead wireless device L₃-WD₅.Further, each lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1), L₂-WD_(2,1), L₃-WD_(3,5)may establish and maintain a respective wireless link 108, 125, 128 to arespective access point AP1, AP2, . . . , APm disposed within thevehicle 102, to thereby serve as a gateway between its self-healingnetwork and other networks and/or devices on-board the vehicle 102. Eachaccess point may service one or more lead wireless devices L₁-WD_(1,1),L₂-WD_(2,1), L₃-WD_(3,5).

As previously discussed, respective portions of passenger-consumablecontent that is initially loaded onto the vehicle 102 via the one ormore servers 105 (e.g., content 115) and/or via one or more wirelessdevices (e.g., content 118) may be transferred and/or copied, viarespective wireless links 108, 125, 128, to multiple lead wirelessdevices L₁-WD_(1,1), L₂-WD_(2,1), L₃-WD_(3,5) of multiple self-healingnetworks 100, 122, 123 for localized, persistent storage thereon. Assuch, in these embodiments, respective portions of the initially loadedpassenger-consumable content 115, 118 may be distributively andpersistently stored across multiple lead wireless devices L₁-WD_(1,1),L₂-WD_(2,1), L₃-WD_(3,5) on-board the vehicle 102. Thus, in a sense, themultiple lead wireless devices L₁-WD_(1,1), L₂-WD_(2,1), L₃-WD_(3,5)(and, in some implementations, the one or more servers 105) maycollectively operate as an on-board distributed server system forpassenger-consumable content 115, 118. It is noted that not all leadwireless devices L₁-WD_(1,1), L₂-WD_(2,1), L₃-WD_(3,5) on-board thevehicle 102 need be included in the distributed server system forpassenger-consumable content 115, 118. It is also noted that in someimplementations, a particular node of the on-board distributed serversystem may serve as a source node for a first portion ofpassenger-consumable content, may store a copy (but not be a sourcenode) for a second portion of passenger-consumable content, and mayrequest other portions of passenger-consumable content from therequested content's respective source nodes.

Generally speaking, various portions of available, on-boardpassenger-consumable content 115, 118 may be initially loaded onto thevehicle at the one or more servers 105, and/or via one or more of thewireless devices included in the one or more on-board self-healingnetworks 100, 122, 123. Initially loaded passenger-consumable content115, 118 may be distributively and persistently stored across multipledevices on-board the vehicle 102, for example, at the one or moreservers 105, the one or more lead wireless devices L₁-WD_(1,1),L₂-WD_(2,1), L₃-WD_(3,5), and/or one or more other wireless devices ofvarious on-board self-healing networks that are not serving as leadwireless devices. Mappings, routing records, or other indications ofwhich particular portions of the initially loaded passenger-consumablecontent 115, 118 are stored at which particular devices may be stored ormaintained at the one or more servers 105 and/or at the multiple leadwireless devices L₁-WD_(1,1), L₂-WD_(2,1), L₃-WD_(3,5) so that otherdevices may obtain or access passenger-consumable content that isdistributively stored at various devices on-board the vehicle 102.

Further, passenger-consumable content 115, 118 (and indeed, any othertypes of communications) may be delivered between the wireless devicesof each self-healing network 100, 122, 123 using any suitable networktopology, routing scheme, and/or protocol. Turning to self-healingnetwork 100 as an illustrative example, wireless devicesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) of the self-healing network 100 may be interconnectedvia the one or more communications backbones 112 a, 112 b using anysuitable network topology, routing scheme, and/or protocol. For example,the self-healing network 100 may be implemented as a token-ring network,and as such may utilize routing schemes and/or protocols that aresuitable for delivering information between nodes of a token-ring. Inanother example, the self-healing network 100 may be implemented orconfigured as a mesh network and may utilize routing schemes and/orprotocols that are suitable for delivering information between nodes ofa mesh network. In yet another example, the self-healing network 100 mayinclude a hub (which is not illustrated in FIG. 1) to which each of thewireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) has a direct communicative connectionvia one or more of the communications backbones 112 a, 112 b. In thisexample, the self-healing network 100 may utilize routing schemes and/orprotocols that are suitable for delivering information between nodes ofa hub-and-spoke network. Other network topologies that may be utilizedfor the self-healing network 100 may include, for example, peer-to-peeror other non-hierarchical topologies, or hierarchical topologies such asclient-server.

For example, in an embodiment, the lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) mayoperate as a local server of the self-healing network 100, and theremaining wireless devices WD_(1,2)-WD_(1,n) may operate as clients ofthe lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1). In these embodiments, the leadwireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) may maintain knowledge ofpassenger-consumable content or types thereof that it has stored andthat is stored at various nodes of its self-healing network 100 (ifany), as well as passenger-consumable content or types thereof that isstored at the one or more servers 105 and/or at other lead wirelessdevices L₂-WD_(2,1) and L₃-WD₅. The lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) mayobtain any requested passenger-consumable content on behalf of thewireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) of the self-healing network 100, insome implementations.

In some implementations, each of the wireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n)may logically appear as a client device of the one or more servers 105,and may communicate with the one or more servers 105 using suitableclient/server messaging and/or protocols. In these implementations, thecommunications backbones 112 a, 112 b and/or via the wireless link 108may be transparent to the client-server messaging logic, and as such mayserve as or be viewed as a transport layer.

In some implementations, each self-healing network 100, 122, 123 mayhave a logical appearance of a respective network that is separate anddistinct from the other self-healing networks 100, 122, 123, and that isseparate and distinct from the wireless network(s) in which wirelesslinks (including wireless links 108, 125, 128) that are supported by thewireless access points AP1 through APm on-board the vehicle 102 areincluded. In these implementations, each lead wireless deviceL₁-WD_(1,1), L₂-WD_(2,1), L₃-WD₅ may serve as a respective gatewaybetween its self-healing network 100, 122, 123 and the wireless networkssupported by the wireless access points AP1 through APm. In someimplementations, the combination of the one or more servers 105 and thelead wireless devices L₁-WD_(1,1), L₂-WD_(2,1), L₃-WD₅ may be viewed asa network unto itself, such as a peer-to-peer, mesh, or client/servernetwork.

Of course, other network topologies for each of the self-healingnetworks 100, 122, 123 and/or for one or more on-board networks thatinclude the one or more servers 105, one or more of the lead wirelessdevices L₁-WD_(1,1), L₂-WD_(2,1), L₃-WD₅, and/or one or more otherwireless devices WD may be possible and utilized in conjunction with anyone or more of the techniques discussed herein. In some embodiments,different network topologies may be utilized for each individualself-healing network 100, 122, 123, and/or for higher level networksthat include one or more lead wireless devices L₁-WD_(1,1), L₂-WD_(2,1),L₃-WD₅ and/or the one or more servers 105.

In some embodiments, passenger-consumable content (and indeed, any othertypes of communications) may be delivered between each of the wirelessdevices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) the lead wireless devices L₁-WD_(1,1),L₂-WD_(2,1), L₃-WD₅, and/or the one or more servers 105 by using apublish/subscribe mechanism, method, or protocol. The publish/subscribemechanism, method, or protocol may be utilized to deliverpassenger-consumable content 115, 118 over any type of network topologydiscussed herein (e.g., mesh, client/server, peer-to-peer, etc.). Forexample, the nodes of each self-healing network 100, 122, 123 (andoptionally of each higher level network that respectively includes oneor more lead wireless devices L₁-WD_(1,1), L₂-WD_(2,1), L₃-WD₅ and/orthe one or more servers 105) may deliver and receivepassenger-consumable content by utilizing any of the publish/subscribetechniques described in co-owned U.S. Pat. No. 9,087,193 entitled“Communication System and Method for Nodes Associated with a Vehicle,”the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by referenceherein.

Promotion to Lead Wireless Device of On-Board Self-Healing Network

Within a particular self-healing network 100, 122, 123, any wirelessdevice included in the particular self-healing network 100, 122, 123 maybe selected, at any time and without any human input or intervention, toserve or function as the lead wireless device of the network 100, 122,123. Upon selection, the selected wireless device may automaticallybegin to function as a lead wireless device, again without any humaninput or intervention, and indeed, without any reconfiguration. That is,any wireless device of the self-healing network 100, 122, 123 may be a“hot spare” for the lead wireless device of the self-healing network100, 122, 123, or for a newly formed sub-network of the network 100,122, 123, as will be described in a later section. Moreover, referringto the self-healing network 100 as an example network and for ease ofdiscussion, within the self-healing network 100, the set of wirelessdevices that are communicatively interconnected (e.g., as shown in FIG.1, the wireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n)) may cooperate toautomatically determine or select which wireless device amongst the setis to function as lead wireless device of the self-healing network 100.Said another way, the set of wireless devices that are communicativelyinterconnected within the self-healing network 100 (e.g., wirelessdevices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n)) may communicate therebetween to collectivelyand cooperatively determine or agree on which particular wireless deviceamongst the set is to be promoted to function or operate as the leadwireless device L₁-WD_(1,1), and thus is to establish a wireless link108 with a suitable access point on-board the vehicle 102 via which datamay be delivered to and from the wireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) ofthe network 100. For example, the set or group of wireless devicesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) of the self-healing network 100 may collectivelydetermine that the lead wireless device is the particular wirelessdevice of the set or group that is able to establish the most robustwireless connection with one of the on-board access points AP1 to APm(e.g., by comparing respective signal strengths, bit error rates, and/orother measures of wireless channel quality across the devices of thegroup). Additionally or alternatively, the set of wireless devicesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) may utilize a promotion protocol (e.g., a protocolsimilar to that utilized in HSRP (Hot Standby Router Protocol) or VRRP(Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol) methodologies used to select one ofa group of routers to serve as the gateway or virtual router on behalfof the group) to collectively select a particular one of the set ofwireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) to serve as the lead wireless deviceL₁-WD_(1,1) of the network 100. For example, the set of wireless devicesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) may vote and/or otherwise elect one of the devices ofthe set/group to function as the lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) of thenetwork 100. Still additionally or alternatively, the set of wirelessdevices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) may collectively determine the lead wirelessdevice of the group based on a comparison of each wireless device'sspare or available processing power and/or memory. For example, aparticular wireless device of the set that is not being utilized by anypassenger may be collectively determined by the set of wireless devicesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) to be the lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) of thenetwork 100. Of course, other criteria may additionally or alternativelybe used by the set of wireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) to collectivelydetermine the particular wireless device amongst the set that is toserve as the lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) of the network 100.

Various conditions and/or events may trigger the wireless devicesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) or a subset thereof to cooperatively determine orselect a new lead wireless device. For example, the current leadwireless device may suffer a failure or a compromised condition (e.g.,its wireless transceiver fails), the quality and/or capacity of thewireless link 108 may degrade, the access point AP1 to which theself-healing network 100 is communicatively connected may fail, one ormore of the communications backbones 112 a, 112 b may fail or becomeotherwise compromised, etc. The occurrence of the triggering conditionmay be detected by the current lead wireless device and/or by one ormore other wireless devices within the network 100. Based on thedetection, the detecting wireless device(s) may initiate the electionprocess (or other suitable cooperative selection process) to determine areplacement lead wireless device.

Referring to FIGS. 2A-2D to illustrate, FIG. 2A depicts the self-healingnetwork 100 of FIG. 1, including lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) andother wireless devices WD_(1,2)-WD_(1,n) that are communicativelyinterconnected via primary communications backbone 112 a and viasecondary communications backbone 112 b. Lead wireless deviceL₁-WD_(1,1) has established and is supporting wireless link 108 towireless access point AP1, where the wireless link 108 transports datato/from other on-board devices and any number of the wireless devicesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) of the self-healing network 100. For example,passenger-consumable data stored at the one or more servers 105 may beunicast or multicast to one or more target recipient wireless devices ofone or more self-healing networks. For instance, at least some of thedata 115 stored at the server(s) 105 may be routed to a target recipientwireless device WD_(1,3) of the self-healing network 100 via the network110, the access point AP1, the wireless link 108, the lead wirelessdevice L₁-WD_(1,1), and the backbone 112 a.

In the example scenario illustrated in FIG. 2A, a fault (as denoted bythe X) in the communications backbone 112 a has occurred, thuspreventing nodes WD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n) from utilizing backbone 112 a tocommunicate with the lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1). Any one or moreof the impacted devices WD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n) and/or the lead wirelessdevice L₁-WD_(1,1) may detect the presence of the fault. Upon detectionof the fault, the impacted wireless devices WD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n) and thelead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) may utilize the secondarycommunications backbone 112 b to communicate therebetween.

FIG. 2B illustrates the self-healing network 100 of FIG. 2A in whichfaults have occurred on both the communications backbone 112 a and thecommunications backbone 112 b, thereby preventing the devicesWD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n) from communicating with the lead wireless deviceL₁-WD_(1,1) at all. That is, no viable communications pathway betweenthe lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) and the devices WD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n)exists. Any one or more of the impacted devices WD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n) maydetect that it is or has become communicatively disconnected from thelead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) and, upon said detection, may initiatea process or protocol to determine which other wireless devices of thenetwork 100 remain communicatively connected to the detecting device.For example, each detecting device may broadcast an “I Am Here” messageand account for the nodes that successfully reply. When the group ofwireless devices that remain communicatively interconnected to eachother but are communicatively disconnected to the lead wireless deviceL₁-WD_(1,1) are ascertained, one or more of the members included in saidgroup may initiate an election or other cooperative selection process(e.g., as discussed above) to determine which device is to serve orfunction as a lead wireless device on behalf of the group. For example,the subset WD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n) of the previously communicativelyinterconnected devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) of the network 100 maydetermine that the subset WD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n) remains communicativelyinterconnected in spite of being communicatively disconnected from thelead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1), and the subset of devicesWD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n) may initiate an election or other cooperative process(e.g., as discussed above) to determine or select which device amongstthe subset WD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n) is to assume the function of the leadwireless device on behalf of the subset WD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n). It is notedthat the determination of the subset of devices WD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n) thatremain communicatively interconnected and the initiation of the electionprocess need not be sequentially performed. Indeed, in someimplementations, at least some portions of the determination of thesubset of devices WD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n) that remain communicativelyinterconnected and the initiation of the election process may occursimultaneously.

In FIG. 2C, which continues with the example scenario of FIG. 2B, thesubset of wireless devices WD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n) (e.g., the devices thatremain communicatively interconnected while being communicativelydisconnected from the lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1)) has determinedthat device WD_(1,4) is to assume the role of lead wireless device forthe subset of wireless devices WD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n). Accordingly, newlyelected lead wireless device L₄-WD_(1,4) may establish a wireless link130 with a suitable access point on-board the vehicle (e.g., AP2, asshown in FIG. 2C). As such, the self-healing network 100 hasautomatically mitigated and recovered from the faults in thecommunications backbones 112 a, 112 b by self-configuring into twomutually exclusive, viable self-healing networks: (i) the self-healingnetwork 135 that includes wireless devices WD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n) and forwhich wireless device WD_(1,4) is serving or functioning as the leadwireless device L₄-WD_(1,4), and (ii) the self-healing network 138 thatincludes the remaining wireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,2) of theprevious network 100 and for which wireless device WD_(1,1) remains asthe lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1). As depicted in FIG. 2C, each ofthe self-healing networks 135, 138 includes a respective, mutuallyexclusive subset of the wireless devices that were previously nodes ofself-healing network 100, and includes a respective plurality ofcommunications backbones (e.g., as denoted by references 112 a-1, 112b-1 for network 138, and as denoted by references 112 a-2, 112 b-2 fornetwork 135). Each of the sub-self-healing networks 135, 138 maysubdivide to mitigate and recover from respective faults occurringtherein, if needed.

FIG. 2D depicts an embodiment of the self-healing network 100 of FIG. 1that includes one or more hot standby wireless devices for the activelead wireless device. In FIG. 2D, the network 100 includes a set ofwireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) that are communicativelyinterconnected via primary communications backbone 112 a and viasecondary communications backbone 112 b, where the devices or nodesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) are communicatively connected to other devices onboardthe vehicle 102 via the a gateway/lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1), thewireless link 108, the access point AP1, and the network 110. In theexample scenario of FIG. 2D, lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) is servingas a primary gateway of the network 100, and the wireless deviceWD_(1,2) has been designated a priori to be the initial hot standby leadwireless device of the network 100, e.g., via a collective determinationby the wireless devices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n), or by some other designationmechanism. That is, the wireless device gateway WD_(1,2) has beendesignated to be the initial hot standby lead wireless device of thenetwork 100 upon initialization of the network 100, and/or at any timeprior to the active lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) relinquishing orbeing relieved of its duties as the lead wireless device of the network100. (Similarly, one or more other wireless devices WD_(1,3)-WD_(1,n)may have been designated a priori as secondary, tertiary, etc. hotstandby lead wireless devices for the network 100.)

As denoted by the X in the example scenario depicted in FIG. 2D, accesspoint AP1 has failed. Accordingly, upon detection of the communicativedisconnection of the network 100 (e.g., due to failed access point AP1),the initial hot standby wireless device WD_(1,2) automatically assumesthe lead wireless device functionality for the network 100, and as suchestablishes a wireless link 140 with access point AP2 via whichconnectivity of the network 100 to external devices is maintained. Thatis, upon detection of the communicative disconnection of the network 100via lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,1) and access point AP1, initial hotstandby wireless device WD_(1,2) automatically starts serving as leadwireless device L₁-WD_(1,2) for the network 100, and the wireless deviceWD_(1,1) automatically relinquishes its lead wireless deviceresponsibilities for the network 100. As such, communication between thedevices WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) of the network 100 and external devices isable to be maintained via gateway/lead wireless device L₁-WD_(1,2), thewireless link 140, the access point AP2, and the network 110, withlittle or no loss of data upon the failure of access point AP1.

In an embodiment, each wireless device WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) may store anindication of the identity of a particular wireless device within thenetwork 100 that is to serve or is serving as an initial, default, orprimary lead wireless device or gateway for the network 100, and eachwireless device WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) may store an indication of one or morewireless devices within the network 100 that are designated as hotstandbys for an active lead wireless device of the network 100.Optionally, each wireless device WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) may store arespective order or priority via which various hot standby wirelessdevices are to assume lead wireless device functionality. Specifically,in the example scenario of FIG. 2D, an indication of the wireless deviceWD_(1,1) being designated as the primary lead wireless device of thenetwork 100 and an indication of the wireless device WD_(1,2) beingdesignated as the initial hot standby for the primary lead wirelessdevice may be stored at each wireless device WD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) of thenetwork 100, e.g., upon network initialization, and/or upondetermination of the primary and hot standby lead wireless device(s). Inan example implementation, the indications of the designated primary andhot standby wireless device(s) stored at each wireless device of thenetwork 100 may include the respective IP addresses or other routingaddresses of the designated wireless devices within the network 100 (orindications thereof). As such, data delivery to/from the self-healingnetwork 100 may be maintained with minimal or no socket breakage in theevent of an access point failure.

Although the example scenario of FIG. 2D illustrates a hot standbywireless device of a self-healing network 100 automatically assuming therole of lead wireless device upon the failure of an access point AP1, ahot standby may automatically assume the role of lead wireless device ina similar manner during other fault or failure scenarios, such as uponthe failure of an active lead wireless device, upon a fault occurring atthe active lead wireless device, etc. Further, depending on the natureof its fault, a formerly active lead wireless device may be able tomaintain its communicative connection to the backbone(s) 112, andtherefore may still be able to send and receive passenger-consumabledata, in spite of its loss of wireless connectivity with the accesspoint.

Exemplary Node of On-Board Self-Healing Network

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example wireless device 200that may be utilized in one of the self-healing networks 100, 122, 123of FIG. 1. For example, each of the wireless devices L₁-WD_(1,1),WD_(1,2)-WD_(1,n), L₂-WD_(2,1), L₃-WD_(3,5) may be a respective instanceof the example wireless device 200.

As depicted in FIG. 3, the wireless device 200 is a passenger-facingdevice that is disposed in the cabin of a vehicle 202. The wirelessdevice 200 may include, for example, one more central processing units(CPUs) or processors 205, and one or more busses or hubs 208 thatconnect the processor(s) 205 to other elements of the wireless device200, such as a volatile memory 210, a non-volatile memory 212, one ormore user interfaces 215, one or more wireless interface(s) 218, andoptionally, one or more wired interface(s) 220. The volatile memory 210and the non-volatile memory 212 may each include one or morenon-transitory, tangible computer readable storage media such as randomaccess memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), FLASH memory, a biologicalmemory, a hard disk drive, a digital versatile disk (DVD) disk drive,etc.

In an embodiment, the memory 210 and/or the memory 212 may storeinstructions 222 that are executable by the processor(s) 205 of thewireless device 200 to particularly operate as a node of a self-healingnetwork on-board a vehicle, e.g., self-healing network 100, 122, 123on-board the vehicle 102. For example, the self-healing instructions 222stored on one or more of the memories 212, 215 may, when executed by theprocessor(s) 205, cause the wireless device 200 to, for example, requestand receive, or otherwise obtain from other devices,passenger-consumable content, and present obtained content to apassenger by using the user interface 215; to route communications viaappropriate interfaces 218, 220 and communications backbones 112 a, 112b; detect that an election-triggering condition has occurred; initiateand/or participate in cooperative elections with other wireless devices;and/or perform any one or more of the other methods, functions,features, or actions described herein. The instructions 222 may beimplemented by using one or more modules, applications, engines, and thelike. Indeed, each of the modules, applications and engines describedherein may respectively correspond to a different set of machinereadable instructions for performing one or more functions describedherein. These modules need not be implemented as separate softwareprograms, procedures or modules, though, and thus various subsets ofthese modules can be combined or otherwise re-arranged in variousembodiments. In some embodiments, at least one of the memories 210, 212stores a subset of the modules and data structures identified herein. Inother embodiments, at least one of the memories 210, 212 storesadditional modules and data structures not described herein.

In an embodiment, the user interface 215 may communicate with theprocessor(s) 205 to cause information to be presented on the userinterface 215 of the wireless device 200. In an embodiment, the userinterface 215 may transfer information and commands to/from theprocessor(s) 205 of the wireless device 200. For example, the userinterface 215 may receive a passenger request for particularpassenger-consumable content, deliver an indication of the request, viathe bus 208 to the processor(s) 205, which in turn may cause therequested content to be delivered from wherever it is stored on-boardthe vehicle for presentation at the user interface 215. Typically (butnot necessarily), the user interface 215 includes a touch screen.Additionally or alternatively, the user interface 215 may include amouse, a keyboard or key pad, a touch pad, lights, a speaker, amicrophone, etc.

Data or information, which may include passenger-consumable content, maybe transferred to and from the wireless device 200 via one or morewireless interfaces 218. At least one of the wireless interfaces 218 maybe a wireless interface via which a wireless link 225 to an on-boardwireless access point 228 (e.g., the wireless link 108 to on-boardwireless access point AP1, and/or other wireless links to on-boardwireless access points AP1 to APm) may be established, e.g., when thewireless device 200 is functioning as a lead wireless device of aself-healing network. In some embodiments, at least one of the wirelessinterfaces 218 may couple the wireless device 200 to the communicationsbackbone 112 a and/or 112 b of the self-healing network of which thewireless device 200 is a node (not shown in FIG. 3). In someembodiments, the wireless device 200 may additionally include one ormore wired interfaces 220 via which the wireless device 200 is coupledto the communications backbone 112 a and/or 112 b of the self-healingnetwork.

In the arrangement depicted in FIG. 3, the wireless device 200 ismounted in the back of a passenger seat 230 of the vehicle, and as such,a passenger who is seated or otherwise positioned behind the seat 230may be a user (and therefore interact with) the wireless device 200.However, this is merely an example arrangement. Different instances ofwireless devices 200 that are configured to operate as nodes in on-boardself-healing networks 100, 122, 123 may be disposed otherwise within thevehicle 202. For example, an instance of the wireless device 200 may bemounted within the cabin of a vehicle, e.g., in or on a wall, cabinet,shelf, ceiling, etc. of the vehicle 202. An instance of the wirelessdevice 200 may be mounted in an LRU (Line Replaceable Unit) on-boardvehicle 202. Other embodiments of wireless device 200 instances on-boardthe vehicle 202 may additionally or alternatively be possible.

For example, an instance of the wireless device 200 may be implementedin a portable electronic device (PED) on-board the vehicle 202 that isoperated by a passenger or a crew member. In such implementations, thevehicle 202 may include installed mounting devices or ports that arefixedly attached to the vehicle or portion thereof via which a passengeror crew member may mount his or her PED, to thereby communicativelyconnect their PED to the communications backbones 112 a, 112 b of aself-healing network 100. For example, a mounting device may be disposedin seat of the vehicle, in a dashboard, wall, or other component of thevehicle. In these embodiments, the mounting device may provide, onbehalf of the mounted PED, the wireless interface(s) 218 and wiredinterface(s) 220 to the communications backbones 112 a, 112 b of aself-healing network. The PED may be configured with one or moreapplications (e.g., at least a portion of the self-healing instructions122 may be stored on and executed at the PED) to thereby enable the PEDto operate at least partially as a self-healing network node whenmounted in an on-board mounting port or at the on-board mounting device.Typically, for security reasons, a passenger-operated PED may be grantedonly a subset of the self-healing functionality that is able to beperformed by a vehicle-installed wireless device (such as theseatback-mounted device 202) or by a crew member-operated PED. Forexample, access by other devices to passenger-consumable content that isstored at the PED may be prohibited, whereas the PED may be allowed todetect faults in communications backbones 112 a, 112 b and inform othernodes of the self-healing network of detected faults.

Further, it is noted that the embodiment of the wireless device 200illustrated in FIG. 3 is only one example of a device that is suitablefor being a node of the self-healing network 100. Other embodiments ofthe wireless device 200 may be usable as nodes the self-healing network100, even if the other embodiments have more or fewer components thanshown in FIG. 3, have one or more combined components, or have adifferent configuration or arrangement of the components. Moreover, thevarious components shown in FIG. 3 can be implemented in hardware, aprocessor executing software instructions, or a combination of bothhardware and a processor executing software instructions, including oneor more signal processing and/or application specific integratedcircuits.

Exemplary Method

FIG. 4 illustrates an example method 300 for self-healing a network thatis on-board a vehicle and that is for delivering content for consumptionby passengers who are on-board the vehicle. In an embodiment, the method300 is performed by one or more of the wireless devicesWD_(1,1)-WD_(1,n) that are on-board the vehicle 102 of FIG. 1 and thatare included in the self-healing network 100 having lead wireless deviceL₁-WD_(1,1). However, the method 300 may be additionally oralternatively performed by other devices or nodes of the self-healingnetwork 100 and/or by other devices or nodes of other self-healingnetworks that are on-board vehicles. For ease of discussion, the method300 is described below with simultaneous reference to FIGS. 1-3;however, this description is only one of many embodiments and as such isunderstood to be non-limiting.

At a block 302, the method 300 may include detecting, at a particularwireless device, that the particular wireless device is or has becomecommunicatively disconnected from a lead wireless device of an initialself-healing network of which the particular wireless device and thelead wireless device were respective nodes. Generally speaking, prior tothe execution of the method 300, the initial self-healing network mayinclude the particular wireless device, the lead wireless device, andzero or more other wireless devices, each of which is a respective nodeof the initial self-healing network. The nodes of the initialself-healing network may be communicatively connected by one or morecommunications backbones, which typically, but not necessarily, includea preferred communications backbone (which may be wired or wireless) andoptionally one or more secondary communications backbones.

Also typically, but not necessarily, the source or cause of the detecteddisconnection is not at the particular wireless device itself, butinstead may be located external to the particular wireless device, e.g.a fault occurring in a communications link or backbone thatcommunicatively connects the particular wireless device and the leadwireless device, a level of interference that compromises a connectingcommunications link or backbone so that the link/backbone is operatingbelow a quality threshold, a fault occurring at the lead wirelessdevice, a failure of an access point, etc. As previously discussed, a“lead” wireless device of a self-healing network, as generally referredto herein, refers to one of the wireless devices or nodes of aself-healing network that establishes and maintains, on behalf of theself-healing network, an external wireless link (e.g., “external” withrespect to the self-healing network) to other devices that are excludedfrom the self-healing network via which data and/or other communications(which may include passenger-consumable content) may be sent andreceived. In an embodiment, the wireless link established by the leadwireless device is an only wireless link that communicatively connectsany of the wireless devices of the self-healing network to otherexternal devices on board the vehicle, such as to on-board serversand/or other devices that are excluded from the self-healing network andon which passenger-consumable content is stored. As such, a leadwireless device may serve as a gateway between the wireless devicesincluded in the self-healing network and external devices, so thatcommunications between external devices and any of the wireless devicesof the self-healing network are routed via the lead wireless device andits established wireless link. Any of the wireless devices or nodes of aself-healing network may be readily available to assume thefunctionality of the lead wireless device when needed. Accordingly, eachwireless device or node of a self-healing network may be a hot spare forthe lead wireless device.

Detecting that the particular wireless device and the lead wirelessdevice are communicatively disconnected (block 302) may includedetecting or determining a disconnection, disruption, or absence of anycommunication pathway between the first and the lead wireless devices.For example, when the initial self-healing network includes a pluralityof communications backbones via which its wireless devices or nodes arecommunicatively interconnected (e.g., communications backbones 112 a,112 b), detecting that the particular wireless device and the leadwireless device are communicatively disconnected (block 302) may includedetecting that all of the segments of the communications backbones ofthe initial self-healing network communicatively connecting theparticular wireless device and the lead wireless device are unavailableand/or have respective qualities below a quality threshold.

At any rate, at a block 305, the method may include cooperating amongsta subset of the plurality of wireless devices from which the initialself-healing network was formed to form a second self-healing network.The subset of the plurality of wireless devices that form the secondself-healing network may include, for example, the particular wirelessdevice and those wireless devices to which the particular wirelessdevice remains communicatively connected and that, along with theparticular wireless device, are also communicatively disconnected fromthe first lead wireless device. Cooperating to form the secondself-healing network (block 305) may include collectively determining,by the subset of the plurality of wireless devices, which wirelessdevice amongst the subset is to serve or function as the lead wirelessdevice of the second self-healing network (block 308). The collectivedetermination 308 may be performed by holding an election or othersuitable cooperative selection process amongst the subset of theplurality of wireless devices forming the second self-healing network.In an embodiment, the subset of the plurality of wireless devices maycollectively utilize a voting or promotion protocol or algorithm, suchas a protocol or algorithm similar to HSRP or VRRP, to collectivelydetermine which wireless device is to serve or function as the leadwireless device of the second self-healing network. In one examplescenario, based on the collective determination or election, thewireless device that detected the communicative disconnect within theinitial self-healing network (e.g., in the method 300 of FIG. 4, theparticular wireless device) may be determined and promoted to be thelead wireless device of the second self-healing network. In anotherexample scenario, based on the collective determination or election,another wireless device included in the wireless devices forming thesecond self-healing network other than the wireless device that detectedthe communicative disconnect within the initial self-healing network maybe determined and promoted to be the lead wireless device.

Upon determining which particular wireless device amongst the subset isto function or serve as the lead wireless device of the secondself-healing network (block 308), the particular wireless device mayassume the role of lead wireless device, e.g., without requiring anyreconfiguration, rebooting, re-starting, re-initialization, and/or humanintervention. In an embodiment, the particular wireless device maysimply execute computer-executable instructions 222 stored on its memoryto cause the particular wireless device to operate as the lead wirelessdevice. For instance, the particular wireless device operating as a leadwireless device may establish, on behalf of the second self-healingnetwork, a wireless link to communicatively connect the wireless devicesincluded in the second self-healing network with other external devices,such as the on-board server and/or other devices that are not nodes ofthe second self-healing network. In an example implementation, theparticular wireless device may establish a wireless link to a wirelessaccess point that is disposed on-board the vehicle and that iscommunicatively connected to the on-board server. In some arrangements,the wireless link established by the lead wireless device of the secondself-healing network is an only wireless link that communicativelyconnects any of the wireless devices of the second self-healing networkto other external devices on board the vehicle, e.g., to other deviceson-board the vehicle and external to the second self-healing network,and on which passenger-consumable content is stored. Accordingly, thelead wireless device of the second self-healing network may serve as agateway between the wireless devices forming the second self-healingnetwork and external devices, so that communications between externaldevices and any of the wireless devices of the second self-healingnetwork are routed via the newly determined lead wireless device and itsnewly established wireless link.

In effect, in response to the detected disconnection (block 302), theinitial self-healing network automatically self-heals itself by dividinginto multiple, mutually exclusive sub-self-healing networks, each ofwhich includes a respective subset of the initial plurality of wirelessdevices forming the initial self-healing network (block 305), and eachof which elects or promotes one of its respective wireless devices toserve or function as its lead wireless device (block 308), and therebyestablish a respective wireless link communicatively connecting thesub-self-healing network with external (with respect to thesub-self-healing network) devices on board the vehicle. Advantageously,the self-healing or self-reorganization may occur without (e.g.,exclusive of) any user input, instruction, or re-configuration, and/orwithout any re-booting, re-initializing, or re-start of any of thenodes. It is noted that upon detection of further faults ordisconnections within a sub-network, the sub-network may heal itself ina similar manner.

At a block 310, the method 300 may include receivingpassenger-consumable content from the on-board server (and/or from anyother device at which passenger-consumable content is stored) at anywireless device of the second self-healing network via the lead wirelessdevice of the second self-healing network and its established wirelesslink. At a block 312, the method 300 may include presenting the receivedpassenger-consumable content on a user interface of the wireless deviceat which it was received.

In some scenarios, the wireless device that detected the disconnect withthe initial self-healing network (e.g., in the method 300 of FIG. 4, theparticular wireless device) is collectively determined by the subset ofthe plurality of wireless devices forming the second self-healingnetwork to be the particular wireless device that is promoted tofunction or serve as lead wireless device of the second self-healingnetwork. In these scenarios, the method 300 may include receiving, fromone or more on-board servers at the particular wireless devicefunctioning as the lead wireless device of the second self-healingnetwork, particular passenger-consumable content that is to be deliveredto one or more wireless devices included in the second self-healingnetwork. For example, the particular passenger-consumable content may bereceived at the particular wireless device via the wireless linkestablished by the particular wireless device with a wireless accesspoint upon being promoted to be the lead wireless device of the secondself-healing network.

The particular wireless device functioning as the lead wireless deviceof the second self-healing network may route or otherwise make locallyavailable the particular passenger-consumable content to one or morerecipient wireless devices included in the second self-healing network,which may include itself, in some situations. For example, the receivedparticular passenger-consumable content may be stored at the particularwireless device functioning as the lead wireless device of the secondself-healing network, thereby providing local access to the storedparticular passenger-consumable content. Upon request of a recipientwireless device, the particular passenger-consumable content stored atthe lead wireless device may be routed or otherwise transmitted from theparticular wireless device to the one or more recipient wireless devicesvia one or more of the communications backbones interconnecting thewireless devices of the second self-healing network. In another example,the received passenger-consumable content may be streamed from theparticular wireless device functioning as lead wireless device of thesecond self-healing network to one or more recipient devices, e.g., inreal-time as the data stream is received at the particular wirelessdevice via the wireless link, and/or from a memory of the particularwireless device upon request of a recipient wireless device included inthe second self-healing network.

In an embodiment, the particular wireless device functioning as the leadwireless device of the second self-healing network may route theparticular passenger-consumable content received via the wireless linkto one or more particular recipient wireless devices of the secondself-healing network for local persistent storage thereon. As such,distributed storage within the wireless devices of the secondself-healing network of passenger-consumable content may be implemented,thereby providing wireless devices of the second self-healing networkwith local access to locally stored passenger-consumable content. Forexample, other wireless devices within the second self-healing networkmay request and receive passenger-consumable content that is locallystored at other devices of the second self-healing network.

Generally speaking, within the second self-healing network, one of theplurality of communications backbones may be utilized by the wirelessdevices of the second self-healing network as a primary transportmechanism for data communications between wireless devices of the secondself-healing network, and another one of the plurality of communicationsbackbones may be utilized as a secondary, back-up, or redundanttransport mechanism. For example, the wireless devices of the secondself-healing network may utilize a wired communications backbone as apreferred communications backbone, and may utilize a differentcommunications backbone (which may be wired or wireless) as a secondarycommunications backbone. If the second self-healing network does includea wireless communications backbone, said wireless communicationsbackbone typically may be implemented using one or more wireless linksthat are different than the wireless link established by the leadwireless device of the second self-healing network, e.g., differentfrequencies, different wireless communication protocols, differentchannels, etc. Typically the primary or preferred communicationsbackbone has a higher reliability and/or availability than the secondarycommunications backbone(s).

Additional Considerations

The novel on-board self-healing network for delivery of vehiclepassenger-consumable content and its associated methods, components,and/or techniques provide numerous advantages over prior art systems andtechniques, as well as solves problems that are introduced or inherentby the prior art system/techniques.

For example, upon the occurrence of a fault within the on-boardself-healing network, the network may automatically, and without anyhuman intervention, self-heal or otherwise repair the network to therebymaintain the ability to deliver available passenger-consumable contentto passengers with minimal disruption, even when faults occur at ahead-end device such as a lead wireless device, and/or even whenmultiple faults occur across multiple redundant communication paths. Forinstance, any wireless device included in a self-healing network mayautomatically assume the role of a lead wireless device of a sub-networkof the original self-healing network, e.g., without requiring humanintervention, reconfiguration, restarting, and/or re-initialization.

Further, passenger-consumable content may be distributively storedacross the one or more servers, one or more lead wireless devices of oneor more on-board self-healing networks, and/or one or more non-leadwireless devices included in the one or more self-healing networks,thereby providing ease and speed of access to passenger-consumablecontent as well as redundancy, e.g., in case of failure of any of thenodes and/or links. With the distributive storage, routing of requestsfor particular passenger-consumable content may be managed by the one ormore servers and/or by the one or more lead wireless devices. That is,one or more servers and/or the one or more lead wireless devices maymaintain or store indications of what particular passenger-consumablecontent is available from which one or more servers, one or more leadwireless devices, and/or one or more self-healing networks. As such,when another device requests particular passenger-consumable content,the one or more servers and/or the one or more lead wireless devices mayindicate, to the requesting device, a server, device, and/orself-healing network via which the request to content may be obtained,and/or the one or more servers and/or the one or more lead wirelessdevices may obtain or access requested content on behalf of therequesting device and delivered the obtained content thereto. In thismanner, management and distribution of distributed passenger-consumablecontent may also be distributed, thereby reducing the processing load ofthe one or more on-board servers.

Still further, in scenarios in which passenger-consumable content (orcopies thereof) is stored within a self-healing network, the devices ofthe self-healing network no longer need to utilize external links (e.g.,the wireless link supported by the lead wireless device forcommunicating with other devices that are not nodes of the self-healingnetwork) to obtain passenger-consumable content, thereby freeing upbandwidth across the external links for other uses by other devices andapplications. This advantage is particular useful in vehicles thatutilize wireless links for air-to-ground communications with on-boardpassenger PEDs, such as in-flight connectivity services in whichpassenger PEDs communicate with off-board computing devices (e.g., viathe wireless links within a vehicle cabin and air-to-groundcommunications links between the vehicle and stationary ground or basestations) during transit for on-board email, text messaging, telephonecalls, off-board website server access, off-board VPN or other networkaccess, and other such applications. For example, as illustrated in FIG.1, wireless access point AP1 supports both the wireless link 108 viawhich on-board passenger-consumable content is delivered to/from thewireless devices WD_(1,1), . . . , WD_(1,n) of self-healing network 100,as well as supports respective wireless links 140, 142 to PED₁ and PED₂via which in-flight air-to-ground connectivity application data isdelivered to/from PED₁ and PED₂. Wireless access point AP2 supportswireless link 125 to self-healing network 122, wireless link 128 toself-healing network 123, and wireless link 145 to PED₃. Wireless accesspoint APm supports respective wireless links 148, 150 to PED_(p-2),PED_(p-1), e.g., for in-flight connectivity applications. In theseimplementations in which multiple on-board wireless links are utilizedfor multiple types of applications, the routing of at least a portion ofthe passenger-consumable content that is stored on board the vehicle isoffloaded from being transported via the wireless links, thereby freeingup bandwidth on the in-cabin wireless links to support air-to-groundcommunications and/or other types of communications.

Moreover, the configurations of self-healing networks may be sized tomanage on-board wireless link or network usage as desired. For example,on-board self-healing networks may be configured to include largernumbers of wireless devices within each network, so that the overallnumber of and/or bandwidth of wireless links that service on-boardself-healing network devices can be minimized or at least decreased,e.g., as compared to on-board self-healing networks that include smallernumbers of wireless devices within each network. As such, on-boardwireless link usage may be at least partially freed up (e.g., and insome cases, dynamically managed while the vehicle is in transit) toservice the wireless link needs and usage of devices and applicationsother than those providing on-board passenger-consumable content.Indeed, in configurations in which copies of all availablepassenger-consumable content are respectively stored within eachon-board self-healing network, external wireless link usage due topassenger-consumable content requests of self-healing network devicesmay be minimal or even zero.

Additionally, the ability of passenger-consumable content to beinitially loaded onto a vehicle via one or more wireless devices thatare nodes of an on-board self-healing network, and then automaticallydetected and distributed so that the newly-loaded passenger-consumablecontent is made available to most or all passenger-facing deviceson-board the vehicle, significantly reduces the time and bandwidthneeded to load passenger-consumable content onto the vehicle (which inturn, may significantly decrease the gate time needed to prepare thevehicle for a subsequent journey). For example, instead of downloadingor otherwise transferring a massive data file onto the on-board servers105 at a parking gate, which may tie up the bandwidth of gate wirelesslinks, portions of the passenger-consumable content may bedistributively stored on multiple wireless devices prior to theirinstallation on-board the vehicle. The multiple wireless devices may berespectively installed or swapped into their respective locations, e.g.,in seatbacks or other mounting locations on-board the vehicle. In thismanner, wireless bandwidth at the gate is freed up for other purposes,and redundancy of initially loaded data may be provided across multiplewireless devices.

Further, the novel systems, methods, components, and techniquesdisclosed herein allow for faster and lower cost of vehicle constructionand installation, as self-healing networks may be line-fit installedduring the manufacturing stage of the vehicle (as contrasted with beingretrofitted and/or provisioned after the manufactured vehicle has beendelivered to its operating company). For example, aircraft, trains, andsubway transit vehicles typically manufacture rows of seats that areinstalled as a single block of multiple seats. With the novel techniquesdisclosed herein, each block of multiple seats may be manufactured toinclude its own self-healing network, including the necessarypassenger-facing wireless devices, communication backbone(s), andwireless interfaces. Upon installation and initialization within thevehicle, the wireless devices may automatically self-configure tocommunicatively interconnect with one another to form the activeself-healing network, and, if needed, determine a lead wireless deviceto establish a wireless link on the network's behalf to other on-boardnetworks and devices, e.g., via on-board wireless access points. Assuch, multiple self-healing networks may initialize on-board the vehicleat least partially in parallel rather than sequentially, as is requiredby known prior art that requires servers to coordinate the on-boardinitialization. Accordingly, the speed of initialization acrossself-healing network devices may be increased, which may result in lessdowntime and quicker time-to-operations of the vehicle. Similar benefitsare afforded when maintenance and/or repair need to be performed, aseither a block of multiple seats may be replaced, or a single wirelessdevice within a self-healing network may be replaced, with minimaldowntime and effect on other passenger-facing wireless devices.

Of course, the novel systems, methods and techniques related to anon-board self-healing network for delivery of vehiclepassenger-consumable content described herein are not limited to onlythe above examples, nor are their benefits and advantages limited tothose described above. Many other applications and benefits are possibleby using the systems, methods, and/or techniques described herein.

Furthermore, when implemented, any of the methods and techniquesdescribed herein or portions thereof may be performed by executingsoftware one or more non-transitory, tangible, computer readable storagemedia or memories such as magnetic disks, laser disks, optical discs,semiconductor memories, biological memories, other memory devices, orother storage media, in a RAM or ROM of a computer or processor, etc.

Moreover, although the foregoing text sets forth a detailed descriptionof numerous different embodiments, it should be understood that thescope of the patent is defined by the words of the claims set forth atthe end of this patent. The detailed description is to be construed asexemplary only and does not describe every possible embodiment becausedescribing every possible embodiment would be impractical, if notimpossible. Numerous alternative embodiments could be implemented, usingeither current technology or technology developed after the filing dateof this patent, which would still fall within the scope of the claims.By way of example, and not limitation, the disclosure hereincontemplates at least the following aspects:

1. A self-healing network for delivering content for consumption bypassengers on-board a vehicle may comprise a plurality of wirelessdevices that are disposed on-board the vehicle and communicativelyinterconnected. Each wireless device included in the plurality ofwireless devices may include a respective processor, a respectivememory, and respective computer-executable instructions stored on therespective memory that, when executed by the respective processor, causethe each wireless device to cooperate with the other wireless devicesincluded in the plurality of wireless devices to determine that aparticular wireless device of the plurality of wireless devices is tofunction as a lead wireless device of the self-healing network. When theeach wireless device is determined by the plurality of wireless devicesto function as the lead wireless device of the self-healing network, thecomputer-executable instructions may be executed to cause the eachwireless device to establish, via a wireless transceiver included in theeach wireless device, a wireless link communicatively connecting anywireless device of the plurality of wireless devices of the self-healingnetwork and one or more servers. The one or more servers may be disposedon-board the vehicle and may store at least some of available on-boardpassenger-consumable content, so that the each wireless device, whilefunctioning as the lead wireless device of the self-healing network,serves as a gateway (i) between the plurality of wireless devices of theself-healing network and the one or more servers, and (ii) via whichrespective at least portions of the passenger-consumable content aredelivered to respective wireless devices of the self-healing network,e.g., for display or presentation at a respective user interfaces of therespective wireless devices.

2. The self-healing network of the previous aspect, wherein at leastsome of the plurality of wireless devices are mounted within a cabin ofthe vehicle.

3. The self-healing network of any one of the previous aspects, whereineach of at least one of the plurality of wireless devices is mounted ina respective seat disposed in the cabin of the vehicle.

4. The self-healing network of any one of the previous aspects, whereinthe each wireless device further includes a wired interface, and theplurality of wireless devices are communicatively interconnected via therespective wired interfaces to a wired communications backbone of theself-healing network.

5. The self-healing network of any one of the previous aspects, wherein:each wireless device includes at least one wireless transceiver; and theplurality of wireless devices are communicatively interconnected, viathe respective at least one wireless transceivers, to a wirelesscommunications backbone of the self-healing network, the wirelesscommunications backbone comprising one or more wireless links that aredifferent than the wireless link communicatively connecting theself-healing network and the one or more servers.

6. The self-healing network of any one of the previous aspects, whereinthe one or more wireless links communicatively interconnecting theplurality of wireless devices and the wireless link that communicativelyconnects the self-healing network with the one or more servers utilizedifferent channels.

7. The self-healing network of any one of the previous aspects, whereinthe one or more wireless links communicatively interconnecting theplurality of wireless devices and the wireless link that communicativelyconnects the self-healing network with the one or more servers utilizedifferent frequency bands.

8. The self-healing network of any one of the previous aspects, whereinthe wired communications backbone is a preferred communications backboneof the self-healing network, and the wireless communications backbone isa secondary communications backbone of the self-healing network.

9. The self-healing network of any one of the previous aspects, whereinthe self-healing network is an initial self-healing network and theplurality of wireless devices is an initial set of wireless devices; andwherein the respective computer executable instructions stored on therespective memory of the each wireless device are further executable bythe respective processor to, while the each wireless device is notfunctioning as the lead wireless device of the initial self-healingnetwork: detect that a communicative connection between the eachwireless device and the lead wireless device of the initial self-healingnetwork has a quality less than a threshold; based on the detection,determine that respective qualities of respective communicativeconnections between the each wireless device and each wireless deviceincluded in a subset of the initial set of wireless devices are at orabove the threshold; based on the determination, form, with the subsetof the initial set of wireless devices, a subsequent self-healingnetwork, the subsequent self-healing network excluding the lead wirelessdevice of the initial self-healing network and including the eachwireless device and the subset of the initial set of wireless devices;and cooperate with the other wireless devices included in the subsequentself-healing network to promote one of the wireless devices included inthe subsequent self-healing network to function as a lead wirelessdevice of the subsequent self-healing network so that the lead wirelessdevice of the subsequent self-healing network serves as a gateway (i)between the wireless devices of the subsequent self-healing network andthe one or more servers, and (ii) via which respective at least portionsof passenger-consumable content are delivered to respective wirelessdevices of the subsequent self-healing network.

10. The self-healing network of any one of the previous aspects, whereinthe each wireless device is communicatively connected to the initiallead wireless device of the initial self-healing network via more thanone communications backbone, and wherein the detection that thecommunicative connection between each wireless device and the initiallead wireless device of the initial self-healing network has the qualityless than the threshold comprise a respective detection that arespective communicative connection between the each wireless device andthe initial lead wireless device of the initial self-healing network viaeach of the more than one communications backbone has a respectivequality less than a respective threshold.

11. The self-healing network of any one of the previous aspects,wherein: the wireless link is established between the lead wirelessdevice and a wireless access point; and the wireless access point isdisposed on-board the vehicle and communicatively connected to the oneor more servers via one or more wired links.

12. The self-healing network of any one of the previous aspects, whereinthe wireless access point further supports one or more additionalwireless links to one or more personal electronic devices (PEDs)operated by one or more passengers on-board the vehicle, the one or moreadditional wireless links supporting data communications between the oneor more PEDs and one or more computing devices located off-board thevehicle.

13. The self-healing network of any one of the previous aspects, whereinthe plurality of wireless devices cooperate via an election to determinethe particular wireless device that is to be promoted to function as thelead wireless device of the self-healing network.

14. The self-healing network of any one of the previous aspects, whereinthe plurality of wireless seatback devices are communicativelyinterconnect via a token ring.

15. The self-healing network of any one of aspects 1-13, wherein theplurality of wireless seatback devices are communicatively interconnectvia a hub.

16. The self-healing network of any one of aspects 1-13, wherein theself-healing network is a mesh network.

17. The self-healing network of any one of the previous aspects, whereinthe available passenger-consumable content stored on the one or moreservers is a first portion of the available passenger-consumablecontent, and wherein a second portion of available passenger-consumablecontent is stored on one or more wireless devices included in theself-healing network.

18. The self-healing network of any one of the previous aspects, whereinthe wireless link communicatively connecting any wireless device of theself-healing network and the one or more servers is an only wirelesslink communicatively connecting any wireless device of the self-healingnetwork and the one or more servers.

19. A method for self-healing a network that is on-board a vehicle andthat is for delivering content for consumption by passengers on-boardthe vehicle, the method comprising:

detecting, at a particular wireless device included in a plurality ofwireless devices that are communicatively interconnected to form a firstself-healing network, that the particular wireless device iscommunicatively disconnected from a first lead wireless device of thefirst self-healing network, the first lead wireless device of the firstself-healing network supporting a first wireless link thatcommunicatively connects the plurality of wireless devices of the firstself-healing network to an on-board server;

based on the detection, cooperating, between the particular wirelessdevice and other wireless devices with which the particular wirelessdevice remains communicatively connected and that, along with theparticular wireless device, are communicatively disconnected from thefirst lead wireless device, to form a second self-healing network,including collectively determining a particular wireless device of thesecond self-healing network that is to function as a second leadwireless device of the second self-healing network and thereby establisha second wireless link that communicatively connects the set of wirelessdevices forming the second self-healing network to the on-board server;

receiving, at the particular wireless device from the on-board servervia the second wireless link and the second lead wireless device,passenger-consumable content; and

presenting the received passenger-consumable content at a user interfaceof the particular wireless device.

20. The method of aspect 19, wherein the second wireless link is an onlywireless link communicatively connecting any wireless device included inthe second self-healing network to the on-board server.

21. The method of any one of aspects 19-20, wherein the firstself-healing network includes a plurality of communication backbones,and wherein detecting, by the particular wireless device, that theparticular wireless device is communicatively disconnected from thefirst lead wireless device of the first self-healing network comprisesdetecting, by the particular wireless device, an absence of anycommunication pathway between the particular wireless device and thefirst lead wireless device of the first self-healing network via theplurality of communication backbones.

22. The method of any one of aspects 19-21, wherein detecting, by theparticular wireless device, the absence of any communication pathwaybetween the particular wireless device and the first lead wirelessdevice of the first self-healing network comprises receiving, fromanother wireless device included in the second self-healing network, anindication of the absence of any communication pathway between theparticular wireless device and the first lead wireless device.

23. The method of any one of aspects 19-22, wherein collectivelydetermining the particular wireless device of the second self-healingnetwork that is to function as the second lead wireless device of thesecond self-healing network comprises electing, by utilizing a votingprotocol amongst the set of wireless devices forming the secondself-healing network, the particular wireless device to function as thesecond lead wireless device of the second self-healing network.

24. The method of any one of aspects 19-23, wherein the particularwireless device is collectively determined to function as the secondlead wireless device of the second self-healing network, and the methodfurther comprises: establishing, by the particular wireless devicefunctioning as the second lead wireless device, the second wireless linkbetween the particular wireless device and a wireless access point thatis communicatively connected to the on-board server; receiving, from theon-board server at the particular wireless device functioning as thesecond lead wireless device via the wireless access point and the secondwireless link, particular passenger-consumable content; and routing, bythe particular wireless device functioning as the second lead wirelessdevice and via a communications backbone of the second self-healingnetwork, the particular passenger-consumable content to a recipientwireless device included in the second self-healing network.

25. The method of any one of aspects 19-24, wherein routing, by theparticular wireless device functioning as the second lead wirelessdevice, the particular passenger-consumable content to the recipientwireless device comprises: storing the particular passenger-consumablecontent at the particular wireless device functioning as the second leadwireless device of the second self-healing network, thereby providing,to the wireless devices of the second self-healing network, local accessto the passenger-consumable content within the second self-healingnetwork; and routing the stored passenger-consumable content to therecipient wireless device upon request of the recipient wireless device.

26. The method of any one of aspects 19-25, wherein routing theparticular passenger-consumable content to the recipient wireless devicecomprises streaming the particular passenger-consumable content to therecipient wireless device.

27. The method of any one of aspects 19-26, wherein routing, by theparticular wireless device functioning as a second lead wireless device,the particular passenger-consumable content to the recipient wirelessdevice comprises routing, by the particular wireless device, theparticular passenger-consumable content for storage at the recipientwireless device to thereby provide, to the wireless devices of thesecond self-healing network, local access to the particularpassenger-consumable content within the second self-healing network viathe recipient wireless device.

28. The method of any one of aspects 19-27, wherein: the communicationsbackbone of the second self-healing network is included in a pluralityof communications backbones of the second self-healing network; and

wherein routing, by the particular wireless device, particularpassenger-consumable content to the recipient wireless device via thecommunications backbone of the second self-healing network comprises:routing the particular passenger-consumable content from the particularwireless device to the recipient wireless device via a preferredcommunications backbone included in the plurality of communicationsbackbones of the second self-healing network when the preferredcommunications backbone is available; and routing the particularpassenger-consumable content from the particular wireless device to therecipient wireless device via a secondary communications backbone of theplurality of communications backbones of the second self-healing networkwhen the preferred communications backbone is unavailable.

29. The method of any one of aspects 19-28, further comprising:detecting, by the particular wireless device functioning as the secondlead wireless device, that an additional wireless device has joined thesecond self-healing network, the additional wireless device storingadditional passenger-consumable content thereon; and transmitting, bythe particular wireless device functioning as the second lead wirelessdevice and via the second wireless link, an indication of the additionalpassenger-consumable content to the on-board server, thereby providing,to other devices on-board the vehicle and excluded from the secondself-healing network, access to the additional passenger-consumablecontent.

30. The method of any one of aspects 19-29, further comprisingobtaining, at the particular wireless device functioning as the secondlead wireless device and via the communications backbone of the secondself-healing network, the additional passenger-consumable content fromthe additional wireless device.

31. The method of any one of aspects 19-30, wherein transmitting theindication of the additional passenger consumable content to theon-board server comprises transmitting the additionalpassenger-consumable content for storage at the on-board server, andwherein the other devices on board the vehicle and excluded from thesecond self-healing network obtain the additional passenger-consumercontent from the on-board server.

32. The method of any one of aspects 19-31, further comprising storingthe additional passenger-consumable content at the particular wirelessdevice functioning as the second lead wireless device, and wherein theother devices excluded from the second self-healing network obtain theadditional passenger-consumable content from the particular wirelessdevice functioning as the second lead wireless device.

33. The method of any one of aspects 19-32, wherein collectivelydetermining the specific wireless device of the second self-healingnetwork that is to function as a second lead wireless device of thesecond self-healing network comprises storing, at each wireless deviceof the self-healing network and prior to detecting that the particularwireless device is communicatively disconnected from the first leadwireless device of the first self-healing network, an indication of thespecific wireless device that is to function as the second lead wirelessdevice.

34. The method of any one of aspects 19-33, performed by any one of theself-healing networks of aspects 1-18.

3. Any one of the previous aspects in combination with any other one ofthe previous aspects.

Thus, many modifications and variations may be made in the techniques,methods, and structures described and illustrated herein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present claims. Accordingly,it should be understood that the methods and apparatus described hereinare illustrative only and are not limiting upon the scope of the claims.

What is claimed:
 1. A method for delivering content for consumption bypassengers on-board a vehicle, the method comprising: at a lead wirelessdevice of a plurality of wireless devices that are communicativelyinterconnected to form a network on-board the vehicle, the lead wirelessdevice providing an only wireless link communicatively connecting anywireless device of the network to an on-board server storingpassenger-consumable content, detecting that an additional wirelessdevice has joined the network, the additional wireless device storingadditional passenger-consumable content thereon; and transmitting, bythe lead wireless device of the network via the only wireless link, anindication of the additional passenger-consumable content to theon-board server, thereby providing, to other devices on-board thevehicle and excluded from the network, access to the additionalpassenger-consumable content.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: obtaining, by the lead wireless device via the network, theadditional passenger-consumable content from the additional wirelessdevice; and at least one of: providing the obtained additionalpassenger-consumable content via the only wireless link to the on-boardserver for storage, or storing the obtained additionalpassenger-consumable content at the lead wireless device.
 3. The methodof claim 2, wherein obtaining the additional passenger-consumablecontent from the additional wireless device via the network includesobtaining the additional passenger-consumable contents from theadditional wireless device via a wired communication backbone of thenetwork.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the method includesproviding, by the lead wireless device via the only wireless link, theobtained additional passenger-consumable content to the on-board serverfor storage, and wherein the other devices that are on-board the vehicleand that are excluded from the network access the additionalpassenger-consumer content from the on-board server.
 5. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the method includes storing the additionalpassenger-consumable content at the lead wireless device, and whereinthe other devices that are on-board the vehicle and that are excludedfrom the network access the additional passenger-consumable content fromthe lead wireless device.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, at the lead wireless device, a request of another deviceon-board the vehicle and excluded from the network for the additionalpassenger-consumable content; and in response to the received request,accessing, by the lead wireless device, the additionalpassenger-consumable content from the additional wireless device or froma memory of the lead wireless device, and providing, by the leadwireless device, the accessed additional passenger-consumable content tothe another device.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprisingstoring, at the lead wireless device, an indication of respectivecontent stored at each wireless device of the network, and whereinaccessing the additional passenger-consumable content is based on thestored indication.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising, by thelead wireless device upon detecting that the additional wireless devicehas joined the network, obtaining, from the additional wireless device,an identification of the additional passenger-consumable content storedat the additional wireless device.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereinobtaining the identification of the additional passenger-consumablecontent includes: receiving a broadcasted transmission from theadditional wireless device, the broadcasted transmission including theidentification of the additional passenger-consumable content; orreceiving, from the additional wireless device, the identification ofthe additional passenger-consumable content in response to a request forrespective identifications of any passenger-consumable content stored atthe additional wireless device, the request transmitted from the leadwireless device to the additional wireless device.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the lead wireless device, arequest of a first wireless device included the network for particularpassenger-consumable content; and in response to the received request,obtaining, by the lead wireless device, the particularpassenger-consumable content from a memory of the lead wireless device,from a second wireless device included in network, from another networkon-board the vehicle, or from the on-board server, and providing, by thelead wireless device, the obtained particular passenger-consumablecontent to the first wireless device.
 11. The method of claim 10,further comprising storing, at the lead wireless device, respectiveindications of at least one of: respective content stored at eachwireless device included in the network, respective content stored atthe another network, or respective content stored at the on-boardserver; and wherein obtaining the requested passenger-consumable contentis based on the stored respective indications.
 12. A network fordelivering content for consumption by passengers on-board a vehicle, thenetwork comprising: a lead wireless device included in a plurality ofwireless devices on-board the vehicle that are communicativelyinterconnected to form the network on-board the vehicle, the leadwireless device communicatively connected to an only wireless linkcommunicatively connecting any wireless device of the network to anon-board server storing passenger-consumable content, the lead wirelessdevice including a processor, a memory, and computer-executableinstructions stored on the memory that, when executed by the processor,cause the lead wireless device to: detect that an additional wirelessdevice has joined the network, the additional wireless device storingadditional passenger-consumable content thereon; and transmit, via theonly wireless link, an indication of the additional passenger-consumablecontent to the on-board server, thereby providing, to other deviceson-board the vehicle and excluded from the network, access to theadditional passenger-consumable content.
 13. The system of claim 12,wherein the network includes a wired communications backbone, and atleast some of the plurality of wireless devices of the network arecommunicatively interconnected via the wired communications backbone.14. The system of claim 12, wherein the network includes a wirelesscommunications backbone, and at least some of the plurality of wirelessdevices of the network are communicatively interconnected via thewireless communications backbone.
 15. The system of claim 12, whereinthe computer-executable instructions, when executed by the processor,cause the lead wireless device further to transmit, via the onlywireless link, the additional passenger-consumable content for storageat the on-board server, and wherein the other devices on-board thevehicle and excluded from the network obtain the additionalpassenger-consumer content from the on-board server.
 16. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed bythe processor, cause the lead wireless device further to store theadditional passenger-consumable content in the memory of the leadwireless device, and wherein the other devices on-board the vehicle andexcluded from the network obtain the additional passenger-consumercontent from the lead wireless device.
 17. The system of claim 12,wherein: the memory of the lead wireless device stores respectiveindications of at least one of: respective content stored at eachwireless device included in the network, respective content stored atanother network on-board the vehicle, or respective content stored atthe on-board server; and respective instances of the additionalpassenger-consumable content are stored at the additional wirelessdevice and optionally at one or more of the lead wireless device or theon-board server.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein thecomputer-executable instructions, when executed by the processor, causethe lead wireless device further to: receive a request of another deviceon-board the vehicle and excluded from the network for the additionalpassenger-consumable content; and in response to the received request,obtain, based on the stored respective indications, the additionalpassenger-consumable content, and provide the obtained additionalpassenger-consumable content to the another device.
 19. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the computer-executable instructions, when executed bythe processor, cause the lead wireless device further to: receive arequest of a particular wireless device included in the plurality ofwireless devices included in the network for particularpassenger-consumable content; and in response to the received request,obtain, based on the stored indications, the particularpassenger-consumable content from the memory of the lead wirelessdevice, from another wireless device included in the network, from theanother network on-board the vehicle, or from the on-board server, andprovide the particular passenger-consumable content to the anotherwireless device.
 20. The system of claim 12, wherein the lead wirelessdevice receives, via the network from the additional wireless device: abroadcasted transmission including an identification of the additionalpassenger-consumable content; or a response to a request forpassenger-consumable content sent from the lead wireless device to theadditional wireless device, the response including the identification ofthe additional passenger-consumable content.